Boze Blogoslaw Nasz Dom

 In my last post, several people commented on this vintage house blessing that I'll be hanging in my new studio office. The last photo I shared was terrible (taken in dim light at night), so I took daylight photos today to show how beautiful this piece really is.

"Boze Blogoslaw Nasz Dom"...

... which is Polish for "God Bless Our Home."

As some of you know, 'vintage Catholic' will be the decor in the new studio/office. My dad, who we lost several years ago, was Polish. He attended Mass every morning. The Polish pieces, in particular, remind me so much of him.

This particular piece is framed under convex bubble glass, in a 'hammered' look frame

(which, being vintage, is quite rustic).

Tucked under the bubble glass are dimensional gravel walkways, Spanish Moss, dried flowers...

... and little white fences.

The little white fences surrounding the garden flowers remind me of our own.

(Do you see the camouflaged rabbit right above my watermark? 

He was visiting our rabbit statuary one afternoon!)

Beyond the white fence is a rustic wood gate which leads to another cottage across the meadow.

The wooden gate reminds me of our own.

There is a young girl/woman standing in the doorway to the cottage. In my mind's eye, she is my Polish grandmother, at a young age, before she left Poland to come to America.

I think I could live 'happily ever after' in this beautiful cottage.

One of the features I love most are the diamond pane windows...

I've loved them forever
(which is why we put them in the family room addition we put on back in the 80's!).

Of course 'you know who' had to stop by and see what I was photographing!

Little Miss Curiosity!

There are several of these available online that say "God Bless Our Home" rather than the Polish translation that I have. Just click on the pink 'God Bless Our Home' below to view them. There's quite a variety of prices, frame styles, and even one that features a beautiful winter scene. I bought mine a while ago and the prices have definitely gone up since I purchased mine, but they are so beautiful.

God Bless Our Home

We're also keeping a close eye on our handsome Mr. J.

Our poor little guy has not been feeling well at all since yesterday. In fact, he was at the Vet's office twice yesterday, was there again today. And depending on how he does tonight, he might be going again tomorrow. We are praying that the medicines he is on finally start to work on what appears to be multiple simultaneous health problems that came on very suddenly. I will keep you posted.

In closing, I wish you all a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend.

May we be forever grateful to those who sacrificed their lives for the freedoms 

our beautiful country affords us. 

May God bless America, and watch over all of the men and women 

who so bravely defend her. I am so grateful to all of you: past, present, and future. 

Donna

The neutral rug won out....

I have a Pinterest board filled with colorful rugs in an assortment of beautiful designs. 

But in the end, this 6' x 6' neutral rug won out over all of them.

I plan to do a gallery wall above the bookcases with the theme being
vintage religious/Catholic decor.

Gallery walls can tend to be busy (and I have a lot to hang)...

... so I didn't want the rug to compete with the artwork on the wall.

It was a tough decision though. There are so many gorgeous rugs out there! To help me decide which rug would look best, I lined up a sampling of the art I'll be hanging in the office and then, one by one, I enlarged my favorite rugs on the computer screen. 

(rug color change due to photos taken at night)

I stood back and looked at both the artwork and the rugs at the same time, and that really helped me decide that a neutral rug would definitely work best for what I have in mind. I really liked the simplicity of this one so I ordered it online and had it in less than a week.

A lot of the vintage Catholic pieces I'll be hanging are Polish, like the one above and the two Communion pieces from the grouping of five pieces of art in one of the first photos. My dad was Polish and attended Mass every morning. They remind me so much of him.

And as you can see, Miss Baby immediately made herself right at home on the new rug. A little too much so, as you'll see in these short video clips!

Baby just had to "help us" with rolling out the rug!

I hope the novelty wears off very soon!

I'm joining Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday ,

Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

and Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.

Have a great week, everyone!

Donna

Vintage Mary Garden Statuary and the Flowering Cherry Tree

I'm sharing mostly photos of our cherry tree today...

...because before long, the blossoms will be but a memory.

The yard is carpeted, as it is every year, with pink cherry blossoms.

Just a couple of days ago there wasn't a single blossom on the ground.

What a difference a day or two makes.

My beautiful vintage Mary garden statuary stands under the cherry tree, watching over our small backyard and all the creatures who visit; in this instance, the Sammy who is up on the deck and the male hummingbird on the feeder.

Some ground cover that we planted last year has come to life.

Spring is such a beautiful time of year.

Here's Sammy visiting the bird bath.

From the street leading up to our house, you can see the flowering cherry tree spreading out over the stockade fence.

The oak trees always take a bit longer to leaf out.

You can easily spot the cherry tree from the DR window when it's in bloom.

The pink is more striking than it shows in these photos.

This past winter, I wasn't sure if we'd ever see green again.

(photo altered using watercolor filter)

Welcome, beautiful Spring!

I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home this week for Show & Tell Friday.

Donna

Inside (Studio Office continues) and Outside (Bird News!)...

Inside things are pretty much the same...

 I still have a long way to go with the office. I lined up a lot of my religious decor to see the colors. I want to pick a rug that goes with the the pieces I'm planning to use on the walls.

(photo altered with film grain filter)

 Today I cut a lot of stringy tendrils from the Wandering Jew plant I got at the Woodstock, NY yard sale last fall. I stuck them in a vase of water. With any luck they'll root and I can start another plant.

I put some of the smaller cuttings in this hanging rooter that I've had for nearly 20 years.

And of course I perched a few of my 'weighted' parakeets on the rooter as well.

In addition to the 'vintage Catholic' decor I'll be using in my studio office, I'm beginning to see another theme emerge! You might remember this antique parakeet lamp I shared with you in a previous post. Claudia (Mockingbird Hill Cottage), knowing how much I loved her parakeet lamp, was instrumental in helping me get this sweet lamp from New York to Massachusetts!

My Nana LOVED her Pete the Parakeets, and memories of being at her beautiful home in the 50's are so vivid. It's no wonder I want to create vignettes and such that remind me of her.
Here are just a few 1950's photos of my beautiful Nana with her Pete's and my sister and I. 

No. 1 is Nana and me with Pete overhead; 

No. 2 is Nana with Pete (cage door wide open & a big bowl of water in front for Pete to bathe in; 

No. 3 is my sister and I with Pete (I'm the big sister on the right), and...

No. 4 is my Nana holding up my sister when she was very young to see Pet close up. 

(Oh how I wish I had that bird cage and the table it stood on in some of the photos!)

Since I don't, I did the next best thing and got a vintage cage of my own to set in the family room, right next to an almost identical table that once belonged to my Mom (with the small table covering).

And, of course, the cage is complete with a (faux) parakeet and a canary!

Now speaking of birds, there is a lot going on outside.

The bluebirds have most definitely claimed the birdhouse as their own.

Mama and Papa spent quite a bit of time making their nest.

... and it appears that Mama is now in the box almost constantly, which makes me think she has laid her eggs. And Papa is never far away.

Quite exciting indeed!

On another note, when I looked out the window this morning...

... I spied a burst of brilliant orange...

... which can only mean one thing...

The Baltimore Orioles have arrived after a long winter's absence.

Of course our little robin friends also have brilliant red/orange breasts, but these boys have been around since February/March and are much more common than the Baltimore Orioles.

And last, but certainly not least, we've had our first hummingbirds arrive! A female was at the feeders last night and a male was at them today. They were not on the feeders when I took these photos, but take a look at the sweet mourning doves in the background. One is on the bench in front of the window and the other is on the large flat rock on the ground in front of the bench.

Spring arriving has been such a blessing after the long hard winter.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

I'm joining Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
and Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.

Donna